Ethiopian Eunuch Baptized -- A Message for May 11, 2025

 

Friends, in this season after Easter, we are focusing on stories from the early church….the church has always emphasized spreading the message of Jesus. This morning we focus on a story from the early church when an unexpected person became one of the earliest converts to Christianity.

You may recall, last week we read the story of how the Apostles appointed the first seven Deacons of the church. The Deacons were faithful believers who were appointed to administer the resources of the church among the members. Stephen, the Deacon we focused on last Sunday, was the first martyr of the Christian church. This Sunday, we focus on another Deacon: Philip. 

After Stephen’s death, many Christians moved out of Jerusalem for their safety. Philip ministered to Christians who lived in Samaria. 

Listen now to the word of God as read part of PHilip’s story as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 8, verses twenty-six through thirty-nine:

Scripture Lesson Acts 8:26-39

26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 

27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian[a] eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,

28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 

29 The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”

30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.

31 “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.

32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:

“He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
    and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
    so he did not open his mouth.

33 

In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
    Who can speak of his descendants?
    For his life was taken from the earth.”[b]

34 The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” 

35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.

36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?”

 [37] [c] 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God, thanks be to God. Amen.

Let us pray…

Sermon Ethiopian Eunuch Baptized

Unfortunately, the writer of the Acts of the Apostles did not tell us the name of the man from Ethiopia….we know where he lived. We know he was an important member of staff for the Queen of Ethiopia. We know he was in charge of her treasury, so he was good with numbers and good with money. We know he was a religious man – he travelled all the way to Jerusalem to worship God. And, we know his status as a Eunuch – he was a sexual minority. But, we don’t know his name. 

In the ancient world, men were castrated for various reasons.  Sometimes, men were castrated to punish them. But, they often were castrated because they had specialized roles in the government – Ethiopia was ruled by a Queen. Male servants and government officials surrounded her. They were castrated and made into eunuchs so they would not be perceived as a threat to the queen. 

The laws of Israel were rigid. Castrated men were not allowed to worship in the Temple. The man from Ethiopia came to Jerusaelm to worship at the Temple, but we don’t know how he was received. Was he welcomed, or was he prevented from worshipping God in the place Jewish people believed was the Holiest of Holy places?

He was on his way home when he met Philip. In the first century, when people read scrolls, they read them aloud, even if they were reading by themselves. Philip heard the man reading a scripture from Isaiah and he struck up a conversation with the Ethiopian man. The man invited Philip to sit in his chariot and discuss scripture. Philip took the opportunity to proselytise to the man and tell him the story of JEsus, the story of the Good News. The man wanted to know if anything would prevent him from being baptized right there and then….this was a loaded question. The man’s status as a eunuch created many obstacles for him to practice Judaism. But, Philip saw no issues….baptism is available for all believers. So, Philip baptised the man from Ethiopia. The man carried on with his journey, praising God as he went.

Christianity has a long tradition in Ethiopia. This man, who happened to be a Eunuch, was the first Ethiopian Christian. By the 4th century, the King of Ethiopia converted to Christianity and Christianity was the official religion of the people of Ethiopia for hundreds of years.  Sixty-eight percent of the current residents of Ethiopia are Christians.

The story of the man from Ethiopia is significant for many reasons. The Christian church was in its infancy when he became a Christian. The Christian church was not yet a separate religion from Judaism. But it was evolving. The man from Ethiopia was the first convert who was not from the land of Israel. He was the first African Christian. He was probably the first black Christian. And, he was the first Chrisitan who was obviously a sexual minority.

  

Christianity is available for all people. Young and Old….Rich and Poor…red and yellow and black and white….people from Israel, people from Europe, people from Africa, people from Asia, people from Australia, people from South America, people from North America….people who believed their whole lives and people who had an encounter with the Holy Spirit yesterday….people who are heterosexual and people who are transgendered and people who are lesbians and people who are gay and people who are asexual. 

Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Christians who don’t look like them. Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Christians who don’t worship like them. Some Christians are uncomfortable when they meet Chrsitans who aren’t the same sexual orientation as them.

But, even if we are uncomfortable, we have to remember we do this because of our faith in God. And God asks us to risk being uncomfortable to do what is right. Practicing Christianity is not always easy or pleasant or comfortable. God asks us to take risks. God asks us to face discomfort. God asks us to be vulnerable because God wants us to work with our fellow Christians to make our world better. 

People who are different, who are perceived as different, are always at risk. The majority is not always kind to minorities. Jesus taught over and over again that it is our work to support and care for people who are different, who are vulnerable.  

 

When Jesus proclaimed his mission on earth, he read a quote from Isaiah, the very scroll the man from Ethiopia was reading. Jesus said: ““The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed.” We are called to model our actions and our lives on the work of Jesus, to also help the poor, the brokenhearted, the imprisoned, the people who have physical disabilities, and people who are oppressed because of their sexual orientations, their immigration status, their health, their intellectual abilities, or the other things that make them different.

Let us be brave like Philip. Let us not allow anything to stop us from spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. And, let us remember that our faith is for all people….no matter who they are.

Amen. 

Stephen's Witness -- A Message for May 4, 2025

 

Friends, we are in the season between Easter and Pentecost, the season of the church year we call Eastertide. This year, our scriptural focus during this season will be on the birth of the Christian church. On the past two Sundays, we focused on Easter scriptural texts – the story of the women finding an empty tomb and the story of the Disciples walking to Emmaus with a resurrected Jesus, a resurrected Jesus they did not recognize. Today, we are going to skip ahead in the story.  

Before Jesus Ascended to Heaven, he told his disciples and friends it would become their job, their duty, to spread Jesus’ message to others. They would continue his work on earth and share the Good News with the world. And, this is what happened…instead of going quiet, and keeping the message to themselves, the Disciples preached and taught and healed. More and more people began to embrace the message of Christianity for themselves. And, what started out with a group of 12 people became a bigger and bigger group.

When the disciples were with Jesus, they lived together. They kept a common “purse” for all of their expenses. They ate together and lodged together and did everything in pairs. As the group became a bigger and bigger group, sharing everything became complicated. The first portion of Scripture we read this morning is about how the Disciples/Apostles decided to handle the administrative tasks of their calling when things started to become too much for 12 people.

Listen now to the word of God as we read from the Acts of the Apostles, chapter 6:

Scripture Lesson Acts 6:1-7:2a, 44-60 

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 

So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 

Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 

and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”

This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. 

They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Amen….

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. 

So, after the church became bigger, the logistics became more complicated. And feathers started to be ruffled by people who became upset because they believed the widows from their own cultural background were being neglected in favor of widows from another cultural background. 

It only takes a little bit of time before people start to squabble. We quickly divide ourselves into groups, and pick sides. Instead of everyone focusing on their shared work as Christian Jews, the Hebraic Christans and the Hellenistic Christians started bickering.

The Apostles decided to delegate. They chose seven trustworthy believers to become Deacons. The Apostles focused on what they did best, preaching and praying, and let the Deacons manage the day-to-day running of their growing Christian body. The Deacons made sure widows were receiving their fair share of the food. They settled disputes among believers. They faithfully served on behalf of the community so the Apostles could preach and pray.

The Christian faithful were becoming a bigger and bigger group. They were still part of the Jewish faith, but their sect of Judaism was attracting more followers, and more negative attention from Jewish people who didn’t embrace Jesus and his teachings.

Unfortunately, Stephen, one of the Deacons, was seized and brought before the Sanhedrin. The same fate that befell Jesus when he went before the Sanhedrin befell Stephen. They did not like what he had to say with deadly consequences. Let us prick up the reading as we turn to the Acts of the Apostles in verses eight of chapter six:

8 Now Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, performed great wonders and signs among the people. 

Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen. 

But they could not stand up against the wisdom the Spirit gave him as he spoke.

Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God.”

So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 

They produced false witnesses, who testified, “This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 

For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.”

All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Then the high priest asked Stephen, “Are these charges true?”

To this he replied: “Brothers and fathers, listen to me! 

“Our ancestors had the tabernacle of the covenant law with them in the wilderness. It had been made as God directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen. 

After receiving the tabernacle, our ancestors under Joshua brought it with them when they took the land from the nations God drove out before them. It remained in the land until the time of David, 

who enjoyed God’s favor and asked that he might provide a dwelling place for the God of Jacob.

But it was Solomon who built a house for him.

“However, the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands. As the prophet says:

 

“‘Heaven is my throne,
    and the earth is my footstool.
What kind of house will you build for me?
says the Lord.
    Or where will my resting place be? 

Has not my hand made all these things?’

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit! 

Was there ever a prophet your ancestors did not persecute? They even killed those who predicted the coming of the Righteous One. And now you have betrayed and murdered him— 

you who have received the law that was given through angels but have not obeyed it.”

When the members of the Sanhedrin heard this, they were furious and gnashed their teeth at him. 

But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. 

“Look,” he said, “I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”

At this they covered their ears and, yelling at the top of their voices, they all rushed at him, 

dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile, the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul.

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 

Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Here ends this reading of the word of God for the people of God. Thanks be to God. Amen.

Sermon Stephen’s Witness

Sadly, Stephen was stoned to death. He is remembered as the first Christian Martyr. After his death, the Christian Jewish believers became more and more at risk. The verses that follow our reading, in chapter 8, say, “That day a severe persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria. Devout men buried Stephen and made lamentation over him.”

Practicing Christianity became dangerous and deadly. The congregations that were growing under the leadership of the Apostles and the Deacons were scattered to the countryside of Judea and Samaria because it was too risky for the believers to remain in Jerusalem. The little squabbles over who was getting more or less food seemed minor when people’s lives were at risk for believing.

When Stephen was put to the test, he didn’t shy away from declaring his faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ. He remained steadfast to the very end. Even when he was being stoned, he told the crowd he could see Jesus waiting for him and standing at the right hand of God. He prayed for Jesus to receive his spirit and to forgive the people who were killing him. Stephen’s faith has been regarded as exemplary and an example for us all to follow.

God was present with Stephen when he was undergoing the worst trial of his life. God was present with the first Christians when their communities faced disagreements. God was present with the first Christains when they swiftly departed Jerusalem to hide out in the countryside after Christans faced arrest and prosecution for their beliefs. No matter what Christians experience, God is present with us.

The early church was made up of people just like us – people who sometimes disagreed with each other…people who sometimes became jealous of each other…people who didn’t always get everything right. But, they worked on it…they worked together to create solutions to improve their communities. When the Apostle’s became overwhelmed by the responsibilities of the Christian community, they appointed faithful people to be Deacons – The word Deacon started out meaning “food servers” – but over the years, the word Deacon evolved to mean both servant and minister. 

Almost two-thousand years after the first Deacons were called by the Apostles, Trinity has both Deacons and Elders serving our church. Like the first Deacons, our Deacons serve communion. They also oversee our congregation and care for the physical and sacred property of the church.  Our Elders have complimentary responsibilities – they also serve communion and supervise the spiritual affairs of our church.  When Trinity was founded, we inspired by the early church to call from within our congregation Spiritual role-models to help lead and inspire our congregation.

Let us continue to put our faith in the God who supports us as a congregation and as individual Christians. God is supports us as we endeavor to serve God and serve each other through the work of the church. Let us be brave like the first Apostles and Deacons – to preach, to pray, and to share the work of the church together. 

Amen.